1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hierarchical structure generating method and apparatus for generating and displaying the hierarchical structure of parent and child stations included in a mobile communication system or the like, by using a table for indicating each parent-child relationship of the relevant parent and child stations.
This application is based on Patent Application No. Hei 10-361607 filed in Japan, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a conventional hierarchical structure generating method applied to mobile communication systems including parent (or base) stations and child (or sub) stations. In this method, the hierarchical structure is constructed by searching a parent-child relationship table including a plurality of data indicating each one-to-one parent-child correspondence relationship, and determining each parent-child relationship (starting from a parent station). In this conventional method, in order to search for each child station, the parent-child relationship table must be searched from the top. In particular, if the number N of the stations is large, the number of times of searching the parent-child relationship table (average: Nxc3x97N/2) is also large; thus, the speed of displaying the hierarchical structure is degraded.
As for a child station, in order to determine whether a top station having a level higher than the level of its parent station is present, it is necessary to examine each parent station registered in the parent-child relationship table so as to detect whether the parent station also functions as a child station with respect to another (parent) station.
In an example communication system consisting of a parent station B and N child stations (relay station R or terminal station T), when the whole hierarchical structure is generated and displayed based on a parent-child relationship table for indicating each parent-child relationship between the constituent stations, it is necessary to position only the parent station B at the top of the displayed structure. However, if the data of the parent-child relationship table is insufficient, a relay station R may be positioned at the top in the displayed structure, that is, some top stations may be displayed in practice.
On the other hand, if the hierarchical structure of a communication system is displayed in a monitoring system of the communication system, it is generally necessary to display each station in the order from the top in turn. If the order is not kept, a system error occurs and the hierarchical structure cannot be displayed. Therefore, a process for specifying the top station is also necessary when the hierarchical structure is displayed.
In consideration of the above circumstances, an objective of the present invention is to provide a hierarchical structure generating method and apparatus used in a communication system (for example, consisting of a parent station B and N child stations (relay station R or terminal station T), by which the whole hierarchical structure can be efficiently generated and displayed from the top level based on a parent-child relationship table between the constituent stations. More specifically, the objective is to provide a hierarchical structure generating method and apparatus used in such a communication system, by which when the hierarchical structure is generated and displayed, it is unnecessary to search the parent-child relationship table every time each station is searched for, but each parent-child relationship can be referred to only by a single search, and a top station other than the current parent station can be detected also by a single search, thereby efficiently generating and displaying the whole hierarchical structure from the top level in turn.
Therefore, the present invention provides a method of generating a hierarchical structure including a plurality of elements having parent-child relationships, comprising the steps of:
referring to a parent-child relationship table indicating each parent-child relationship between the elements, and generating and outputting a hierarchical structure display table which includes at least information for determining whether each element is a parent element; information for determining whether each parent element is a top parent element; information for determining a child element of each parent element; and information for determining another child element having the same hierarchical level of each child element, so as to analyze the hierarchical structure; and
generating and displaying the hierarchical structure of the elements by referring to the hierarchical structure display table.
In the above method, the hierarchical structure display table may consist of one or more array variables.
Preferably, the element number, the value, and the sign of the value of each element of said one or more array variables are specified so as to indicate all of said information.
Typically, the elements having parent-child relationships correspond to one or more parent stations and N child stations, N being a natural number, which constitute a communication system.
The present invention also provides an apparatus for generating a hierarchical structure including a plurality of elements having parent-child relationships, comprising:
a hierarchical structure analyzing section for referring to a parent-child relationship table indicating each parent-child relationship between the elements, and generating and outputting a hierarchical structure display table which includes at least information for determining whether each element is a parent element; information for determining whether each parent element is a top parent element; information for determining a child element of each parent element; and information for determining another child element having the same hierarchical level of each child element, so as to analyze the hierarchical structure; and
a hierarchical structure display section for generating and displaying the hierarchical structure of the elements by referring to the hierarchical structure display table.
According to the present invention, the above hierarchical structure display table is generated and displayed by referring to a parent-child relationship table, and the hierarchical structure of the constituent elements, thereby efficiently generating and displaying the hierarchical structure from the top level.